a.
What is an accounting information system?
An accounting information system is a collection of inputs, processes, outputs and internal controls.
The AIS captures primarily financial data, which can be transformed into information and used for making decisions. b.
Describe the purpose of the FASB Conceptual Framework. Discuss how it relates to your study of accounting information system s.
The
FASB Conceptual Framework, developed in 1977, was designed to give guidance in the development of future accounting principles and rules. It comprises six parts: purpose of financial reporting, elements of financial statements, qualitative characteristics, assumptions, principles and constraints. The conceptual framework relates to accounting information systems by identifying the data to be captured and the characteristics it needs to be useful in making decisions. c.
List and discuss the four parts of a generic accounting information system .
The four parts of an AIS are: inputs, processes, outputs and internal controls. Inputs refer to things like source documents, while processing tools can comprise anything from paper-based journals and ledgers to sophisticated information technology like ERP systems.
Outputs include the general purpose financial statements and other specialized internal reports. Internal controls are designed to promote information integrity in the accounting information system. d.
Compare and contrast sponsored information, practitioner / public
information and scholarly information. While all three types of information can be useful for research and decision making, they do have some important differences. Sponsored information may be more biased than the other two types—it may have an “agenda” beyond simply providing information. Practitioner / public information may not be based on research, but is often useful in a practical sense. Scholarly information is typically based on some form of qualitative or quantitative research; while it is sometimes useful for practice, it may be too specialized to influence practice in a major way. e.
Identify five broad criteria you can use to evaluate information on the
Internet and in other sources.
The five criteria suggested by the U. of
Maryland are: authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency and coverage.
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f.
In a manner specified by your instructor (e.g., individually or with a group, as a written paper or as an oral presentation), prepare an original response to one or more of the questions for this chapter’s
opening vignette.
1.
Why do organizations need an accounting information system ?
Organizations need an AIS to provide some of the information internal and external stakeholders need for making decisions. While even the best-designed AIS cannot provide all the information people need for decisions, it does provide key financial information.
2.
In what ways are the systems similar regardless of organizational characteristics (type, size, location)? In what ways are the systems different based on those factors ?
Regardless of organizational characteristics, most accounting information systems have the same goal: to produce information for decisions. In addition, most have the same five basic elements (inputs, processes, outputs, storage and internal controls). Systems may differ in at least the following ways: uses of information technology, rules used for recording transactions (e.g., U.S.
GAAP or IFRS), general structure of the system (view-driven or eventdriven).
3.
What are some examples of the five generic AIS elements that would be involved in selling ice cream ?
Inputs: customer order, credit cards for payment. Processes: recording the transaction in the cash register, preparing customer’s order. Outputs: customer’s order, general purpose financial statements. Storage: electronic transaction records. Internal controls: daily deposits of cash, use of cash registers.
Except for the two chapters which are brand new to this edition (Chapters 9 and 15), every chapter will have a reading review problem in addition to the reading review questions.
I’m using the “AIS in the Business World” stories from the first edition as the basis for these reading review problems in the second edition. So, in this chapter, the reading review problem focuses on Dollar General (www.dollargeneral.com). Nash (“Dollar
General: 8 Days to Grow,” Baseline 1, no. 32 (July 2004)) offered the following comments about Dollar General:
You may not have heard of Dollar General, but it’s a heavy competitor with Wal-Mart in some areas of the United States. Dollar General (DG) has over six thousand stores in 29 states, generating $6.9 billion in annual sales. The chain successfully opens two stores a day on average, maintaining a profit margin of over 4 percent. A central computer in
Tennessee interfaces with each store’s cash registers via satellite every night; otherwise,
DG employs no computer networks, e-mail or local inventory tracking servers. While DG can maintain high profit margins through cutting back on systems costs, it does experience significant inventory shrinkage (theft and loss)—about 3 percent of sales annually.
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a) Which generic element of most accounting information systems best describes cash
registers and satellites as they are used at DG?
Cash registers and satellites are processing tools in DG’s accounting information system. b)
What kind of information does Nash’s article in Baseline present? Evaluate Nash’s article using the five UMUC criteria presented in the chapter. You can find Nash’s article by pointing your Web browser to www.baselinemag.com, then searching for the
article title.
The Nash article represents popular / practitioner information; it’s probably been reviewed prior to publication, but presents anecdotal information rather than research information. With respect to UMUC’s criteria:
Authority: The article was written by Kim Nash, a senior writer for Baseline. Clicking on her name in the article provides contact information.
Accuracy: The article contains no obvious errors of fact, although the information would be difficult to verify independently short of interviewing DG management.
Objectivity: The information is available freely and does not overtly advertise DG’s products and services.
Currency: The article was published in the middle of 2004, which means it may have been written sometime in late 2003 or early 2004. Conditions may have changed at DG since then, particularly with recent changes in the economy.
Coverage: The article covers the important topics related to DG’s operations. c) Use DG’s web site OR the SEC’s EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml) to find recent outputs of DG’s accounting information system. What is the purpose of each of the following forms: 8-K, 424B3, 10-Q, S-8, 10-K. When did DG last file each
one of them with the SEC?
Form Purpose
8-K Reports changes in company executives
424B3 Prospectus supplement
10-Q Quarterly financial statements and related information
S-8 Registration statement, such as for employee stock bonus plan
Last filed by DG
12 November 2008
3 September 2008
3 September 2008
13 June 2008
10-K Annual report with financial statements and related information
28 March 2008
Please note that I prepared this solution on 24 November 2008, so the “last filed” date may be different by the time you use this problem in your AIS class. d) What policies would you recommend DG institute to reduce their inventory shrinkage?
DG avoids extensive use of information technology to keep its costs low. Nevertheless, the management can employ some low-tech responses to reduce inventory shrinkage.
They could, for example, secure the inventory better by storing it in a secure location and authorizing a few employees to move it based on sound documentation. They could also
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institute more frequent inventory counts, even if only for a subset of the inventory (e.g., paper goods one month, cleaning products another, and so on).
a.
RKH Company is a small consulting service based just outside Los Angeles. It has two partners, Sebastian and Viola, and average monthly sales revenue of
$25,000. At any one time, Sebastian and Viola have up to three consulting engagements running simultaneously. Monthly expenses include office rent, supplies, utilities, professional magazine subscriptions and automobile expenses. What form(s) of information technology, if any, should Sebastian and Viola use in their accounting information system? Explain the costs and benefits of your recommendation. Sebastian and Viola could likely content themselves with a paper-based accounting information system; their transaction volume and the nature of their business seem fairly straightforward. While that alternative would be less costly than incorporating some form of IT, it would make data collection and financial reporting more time consuming. If they wanted to employ some form of IT, a very simple general ledger software, like
QuickBooks, would probably suffice.
b.
Most accounting information systems in use today employ principles of debit and credit for recording transactions. What are the costs and benefits of using the debit / credit system for transaction recording? If the system is destined to fade into disuse, what do you think will replace it?
Debits and credits give accountants a common language for discussing transaction recording and the effects of transactions on financial statements. On the other hand, debits & credits make accounting more difficult for non-accountants; indeed, too many non-accountants believe that the rules of debit & credit are the major part of accounting. If debits & credits are destined to fade into disuse (not at all a certainty), they could be replaced by a simpler system of increases & decreases; information technology could also make the debit & credit rules irrelevant.
Because the field exercises involve original research and will vary significantly from student to student, I’m not including any suggested solutions to them. If your students produce particularly outstanding responses and you’d like to send them to me, I’ll post them on the book’s web site. Let me know if this lack of suggested responses to field exercises is a major inconvenience for you.
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Using the three classifications discussed in the chapter, determine whether each of the following is sponsored, practitioner, or scholarly in nature. a.
Accounting, Behavior and Organizations . Scholarly b.
Harvard Business Review . Practitioner c.
Journal of Accountancy. Practitioner d.
Management Accounting Quarterly . Scholarly e.
MIS Quarterly. Practitioner f.
Strategic Finance . Practitioner g.
www.amazon.com
. Sponsored h.
www.findaccountingsoftware.com
. Sponsored i.
www.findarticles.com
. Practitioner j.
www.quickbooks.com
. Sponsored
6.
Other than those listed in Question Four, find one or two examples (each) of sponsored, practitioner and scholarly web sites, journals or other periodicals. Be
prepared to explain your choices and their classifications.
Sponsored: www.peoplesoft.com
, Practitioner: The Accounting Review, Accounting Technology.
Scholarly: Accounting, Organizations and Society, Behavioral Research in Accounting.
7.
Look up the following references online or in your school’s library. Using the criteria and specific questions from the UMUC web site referenced in the chapter, evaluate and discuss the quality of each reference. (Note: to do a thorough evaluation of these references, you must get the list of questions from the UMUC web site. You won’t be able to rely on my summary in the chapter to do your best work.)
Article
Zipperer, J. “Using
Technology to
Verify the Books.”
Internet World,
October 2002.
“Sage Launches
Accounting Solution for Small
Businesses.” Online
Product News,
September 2000.
Authority
While the sponsor is clear, we have no information about the author or his qualifications.
Clearly, this article was written by someone at
Sage; no qualifications beyond that are evident.
Accuracy
The author cites his source for an interview.
Objectivity
The opening paragraphs seem a bit biased.
One interview is cited; otherwise, information sources aren’t clearly identified.
The article is not very objective; its main purpose seems to be selling software.
Currency
The material is reasonably current.
Given the rapidity of change in the accounting software market, the article is not
Coverage
The article is complete; it does an OK job of covering the topic.
While the article is complete, it doesn’t really cover the subject completely.
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Bradley, S. “Less
Paper, More
Security: Electronic
Storage Doesn’t
Mean more Secure
Files.” California
CPA, May 2003.
“Mind Your E-Mail
Manners.” Journal of Accountancy,
April 2003.
Gooderham, P.N. et al. “Accountants as
Sources of Business
Advice for Small
Firms.”
International Small
Business Journal,
February 2004.
Authorship is clear.
Facts are partially documented.
The article is objective and free from bias. very current.
The article is reasonably current.
The article is short, and doesn’t really explore all the facets of this issue.
Authorship is clear, but credentials are not well established.
The authorship is clear; the authors seem well qualified to write on this topic.
The article does not contain any
‘facts’ per se.
The information and research processes are well documented.
The article seems free of advertising and other bias.
The ideas espoused in the article remain current.
The article is free from bias.
The material is very current.
Although brief, the article does an adequate job covering key points.
The article is complete, and discusses the subject completely.
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Each chapter also includes an exercise like this one. Not only will completing them help you master each chapter’s vocabulary; you may also find questions like this one on your class exams and accounting professional exams. Please match each item on the left with the most appropriate item on the right.
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1 Business Ethics Quarterly (e) an example of scholarly information
2 Comparability & consistency (c) accounting information’s secondary qualitative characteristics
3 Currency
4 Deterministic
5 Going concern
6 Journal of Accountancy
7 Matching
8 Materiality
9 Objective of financial reporting
10 Relevance & reliability
(g) concerns whether information is up-to-date
(f) another name for problems with single correct answers
(d) an assumption of the conceptual framework
(h) example of practitioner information
(b) a principle of the conceptual framework
(a) a constraint of the conceptual framework
(j) to provide information for decision making
(i) primary qualitative characteristics of accounting information
Each chapter in the text will have five multiple choice questions based on its learning objectives. Some of the questions will be “low context.” You can typically answer those just by reading the chapter. Other questions will be “high context.” Highcontext questions call for you to exercise judgment in applying the material from the chapter.
1. d 6. b
2. c
3. a
4. d
5. d
7. d
8. b
9. a
10. a
As you learned in the chapter, designing and implementing accounting information systems requires judgment and critical thinking. Each chapter will include an exercise like this one to help you develop those skills. Several statements related to the material in the chapter are listed below; your job is to explain whether each statement is (a) always true, (b) sometimes true or (c) never true. If you answer (b), explain
when the statement is true.
1. B. Data can be stored electronically, but can also be stored on paper.
2. C
3. A
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4. B. Internet information is reliable when, for example, it meets the five criteria identified in the chapter (authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency and coverage).
5. A
6. A
7. A
8. B. Some companies use two different accounting systems—some I’ve consulted with actually have even more. Such systems are often inefficient, but they do exist.
9. B. As with data storage, source documents can be paper-based or electronic.
10. B. Some questions do have single, correct responses; for example, “what is the journal entry to record the disbursement of cash for accounts payable?” But, many questions in AIS are open-ended, such as “What is the best software package to automate the accounting information system?”
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